Happy (belated) New Year everyone! Sorry I’ve been off the radar lately. I was overwhelmed with end-of-the-semester work last month, plus I had flu-like symptoms. Then came the holidays and all the craziness that comes with it.

But here I am, and I have a little update for you regarding my WIP, the sequel to “The Dark Proposal”, “Between Light and Dark”: I have about two or three more chapters left in my draft! Isn’t that exciting?! There’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears with this book, so I am thrilled to have gotten so far with it.

However, there have been times when I wondered why I was writing this story and putting so much effort into it. That led to me asking myself, ‘why do I write?’

Seriously, why do I tear myself apart over something like this?

Now, the first simple answer is, because I can’t not write.

Honestly, that is what drives me to some degree. I am constantly filled with story ideas and have been since I was a little girl. The slightest moment in life, song, TV show, movie, scene in a book, etc., can set off excitement in my brain as I think about a story idea I’ve had in my head since God knows when. Or it could give birth to a whole new story idea. And if I don’t write them down, I might actually burst. It actually feels that way.

OK, so that’s half the reason. That’s like the creative, spiritual-ish reason. But what is the more logical reason?

The logical reason would because I have something to say. When I wrote “The Dark Proposal”, I had something to say about abusive relationships and evil vampires. When I first set out to write “The Cats” (which I’ve set aside), I intended to address bullying. There are some things that need to be said and some things that need to be explored. That is the logical, more down-to-earth reason why I write.

And I plan to do a lot of writing this year. Once I finish “Between Light and Dark”, I am going to take a break from “The End of Eternity” trilogy, and go back to “The Cats”. I also intend to jump on the screenplay bandwagon, and work on a love story idea that has been nagging me for a while. And then I have other ideas for novels and screenplays.

So many ideas, so little time it seems.

But it is still January, and I have plenty of time to get these three writing projects off the ground. I fully plan to make writing stories my career someday. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do that, though it would quadruple the amount of blood, sweat and tears that I am currently experiencing. Writing a story is hard work, and there’s no easy formula to it. Sometimes I feel like I’m crazy for wanting to do all this.

But I also know that I can’t imagine doing anything else.

In other words, I didn’t choose to write – writing chose me. Frankly speaking, but it certainly feels like that.

So, getting back to my first reason – I can’t not write – no matter how often I want to give up, I know there’s no else in the world I’d rather do.

Sorry I’ve been off the radar for about a month. I was super busy with teaching and freelancing, and of course, writing. Despite my crazy schedule, I still find the time to write, even if it simple editing or a paragraph or two. I am determined to finish my second book, and am enjoying the process while I’m at it.

Photo by Craig Chew-Moulding on Flickr via Creative Commons

That is not to say there hasn’t been bumps in the road. No, I’m not talking about this one and that one. I’m talking about the struggle to write at times. Working on this project has not been a free-flowing experience, nor has it been easy and fun. There has been doubts and overanalyzing over which scene should go next, or whether a scene works at all, or should this argument happen or not, and so on. Writing is both an art and a science, I believe. The artistic part comes when the muse does all the work and there’s stream of consciousness while writing. The scientific comes when you step back and wonder whether everything is working out just fine.

Recently, I was having problems with some scenes and even entire chapters. I felt what I had written was boring and dull, and the story was not going where I wanted it to go. As you might recall, I created a spreadsheet to outline my WIP. I had outlined the entire book with a spreadsheet, and I was trying to stick to it as loyally as I could.

But this weekend, I realized it is OK to not stick to the course, and to go off course with the outline. Once I did, I had a grand time writing – putting in 1800 words in a couple of hours, and thoroughly excited about where my story is headed. I still hope to get back on course, in terms of my spreadsheet, but I think what I’ve written has spiced things up, so to speak (no, I’m not talking about a sex scene at this point).

So, here’s my latest writing tip: it is OK to change the course. Sometimes the muse knows just what she is doing.

If you’re a newcomer author, you probably have heard that you need to establish a social media presence in order to sell your books. It may seem daunting if you are unfamiliar with how social media works when it comes to selling something, but it can be easily be learned. It also can be easily learned that some of what you hear about selling books via social media may not be true.

Image by Blogtrepreneur via Flickr

During the five years since I released my first book, I’ve learned a lot about how social media works, in terms of business. So, in this post, I am going to give my thoughts and opinions on the whole social media thing. Remember, this is based on my experience.

First things first: no, you are not going to sell books via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and all the others.

You might have heard people tell you to provide links to your books on these social media platforms, and constantly provide these links, in order to have success as an author. But that is not how it works. In my experience, very few people are going to click on a link on Twitter or Google+, and go to Amazon or Smashwords, let alone actually buy your book. Those social media posts may come across as spam for a lot of people.

In my opinion, the best time to ever provide links to your book(s) on social media is when you have a sale, a big promo going on, or something seasonal may attract people to that link. For example, it’s October, and my books is about vampires. Since it is the month of all things dark and spooky, I will tweet a few times a link to my book on Amazon or Goodreads. It may not work; it may come across as spam. But it doesn’t hurt. I just will only do it a handful of times.

In the meantime, I better do something else with my social media presence. I need to add more content to my feeds in order to draw attention to my authorship. And that is what social media is all about: drawing attention to something. Whether it is a person, a business, a promotion, whichever – social media announces, “I am here!” And that helps get word out about your books.

Remember, selling books is a business. Writing is a craft, an art. Selling the work is a business, and social media is a big part of how businesses sell their products.

It is a way to interact with followers that could lead to sales. It is also a way to meet other people in the same field. I’ve met quite a few other authors through social media. Eventually, word gets out about your book(s) and people may just pick them up and read them.

But no, social media does not sell books. Don’t count on it, don’t rely on it.

You are probably wondering if blogging – which is form of social media – sells books. Well, I’ve had a few sales that way, but not a lot. But that is not why I blog; I do not blog to sell books. I blog to get the word out about myself as an author. I blog because it is my way of talking to people. I blog to start conversations with other authors. I blog because it is fun.

That being said, I am going to start a new way of reaching people: starting next week, I am going to vlog – meaning video blog. I am going to set up a YouTube channel where I would be doing the same thing I do here, only I’ll be speaking rather than typing/writing. No, I won’t stop blogging altogether. I like this blog, and I want to keep it going. I’ll just be finding a new way to reach people as I continue on as an author. That will happen sometime around next week.

In the meantime, I will continue using social media to get the word about myself and my book(s). And you do the same. Fill your channels with content related to you and your work. Let others get to know you. That may help – just help! – sell your work.

As I work on the sequel to The Dark Proposal, I find myself writing and re-writing scenes or even entire chapters again and again. It is mainly because I am not satisfied enough with what I had written, so I re-write whatever I’ve done. I do this three or four times before I can say that I am satisfied with my work. Satisfied enough to move on to the next chapter (BTW, I’m up to Chapter 7 now!!!).

Which makes me wonder: is a writer’s work ever done?

Answer: Probably not.

Writers are often their worst critics. We always think there is a better word to describe a character or scene than the one we chose. We always think there are better words for our characters to use. We always think there is a better way to end a scene or chapter. There’s always the right words to use…and yet, we never seem to find them.

Famed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury was said to have put his away his work for a year, before re-reading and re-editing his WIP. James Joyce, the author of the classic novel, Ulysses, was said to have spent all day debating where to put a comma in his WIP.

Writers are never satisfied. There is always room for improvement. There is always something better to describe, explain or talk about. There is always a better word to use, or two or three. And with some stories, there are endless possibilities with the main character(s) that sometimes we wonder if we are covering all the necessary bases, and if we have to cover all of them at all.

Being a writer is frustrating.

And it is not only fiction writers, journalists, essayists, poets and songwriters who deal with this. Even college students writing their countless assigned essays are never completely satisfied with their work. When I discuss re-writing and editing one’s work with my students, I am amazed by how many admit to re-writing their essays even before they hand them in. They always say, there is always room for improvement.

Always room for improvement. So, if nothing is perfect, when does the room for improvement end? When does a writer say, enough is enough! When do we stop driving ourselves crazy?

For me, there is a level of satisfaction that comes with writing that makes me say, enough is enough. I could re-write a whole chapter ad infinitum. But it gets to the point where I cannot let my insecurities rule me like that and I have to say to myself, this chapter is good enough. I am satisfied enough with what I put down. Maybe not 100% satisfied with it, because that is starting to look like an impossibility. But 90% satisfied? 85%? Sure! I can live with that.

I may always want to improve on that chapter, and may just do so in the future before I actually publish my work. But there comes a point where I would need to stop, and say, enough is enough.

Some say when you write a novel, you should write first and save the editing for later. After all, if you do both, you’ll become distracted from the real goal of finishing the story’s first draft.

Well, I happen to be one of those people who edits as she writes. Meaning, I don’t save the editing for after I am through with the first draft; it is my priority alongside my writing.

Image by Nic McPhee via Flickr

Usually what I do before I write is that I read over the previous scene or two. Often I do this in order to get a feel for what is going on, so I could get into the ‘mode’, if you will. As I read over the scene, or scenes, I notice grammar or spelling errors. I also notice wordy paragraphs, redundant sentences, and things not well explained. So I edit these parts instead of saving them for later. I believe it is best to polish your work while you are creating it.

To best illustrate this, think of a sculptor. As the sculptor chips or carves away, some leftover pieces of the clay or stone remain on the artwork. This could be dust or pieces not yet brushed away. A sculptor has to brush away those pieces in order to continue with its work.

In other words, when I write, I edit in order to move on. The previous step – in this case, a previous scene – needs to be sharpened as much as possible before I move on. Of course, the actual sharpening comes much later, but I am all for sharpening all the way. It is a way of perfecting your work, and possibly making the editing easier in the end. It is also a good warm-up for the writing you are about to do.

How about you? What is your take on editing as a novelist writes? Do you support it or believe it hinders a writer rather than helps? What is your method of writing and editing?

Why are you writing this story? Why are you writing about these characters? What is it about their journey that has drawn your heart? What is the core of the tale? Justice, mercy, love, revenge, self-discovery? Whatever it is that’s moving the characters is what’s also moving your story. That’s your theme.

Supposedly, theme cannot be planned or forced, but instead come naturally. Theme appears in the story as you write your arcs and developments. It blossoms on its own, an echo of your subconscious. It is the fuel for your story. It is the reason why a writer writes in the first place.

Anne Rice wrote Interview with the Vampire to explore death, mortality and losing God. The Kite Runner is look at the complicated relationship between fathers and sons. Love in the Time of Cholera‘s theme is love in all its variations.

The reason why I wrote my first book is because I wanted to explore abusive relationships. Having been in difficult ones – though no where near as Claire did with Daniel – I felt like I needed a release. I also wanted to write a vampire story where the vampires were once again evil and deadly – the exact opposite of what was popular four years ago.

Every story’s trying to say something. It’s trying to beam an idea, a message, into the minds of the readers. In this way, every story is an argument. It’s the writer making a case. It’s the writer saying, “All of life is suffering.” Or, “Man will be undone by his prideful reach.” Or “Love blows.” Or, “If you dance with the Devil Wombat, you get cornholed by the Devil Wombat.” This argument is the story’s theme.

A friend of mine says the central idea of The Dark Proposal was “be careful what you wish for”. He explains that Claire so wanted to have a rich lifestyle, that she was blind to Daniel’s abusive ways, and then later, used it as escapism for the vampire life she was about to enter. That’s one way to look at the argument.

Image via Pixabay

I have grown so much as a writer during the four years since I wrote my first book. Today, I am focused on going deep with my stories and being more honest with myself when I write. I don’t think I was very honest as a writer when I wrote The Dark Proposal. Part of me cringes when I admit that. But as one musician friend told me, if you do that, then it means you are growing as an artist.

Writing from the heart is not easy. You are literally exposing yourself as a human to hundreds, thousands and maybe even more to judge and tear apart. It is scary enough to produce a book that you poured your heart and soul into. And by that, I don’t mean every part of your mind. The best artworks come from the very essence of the person, their heart.

So as I seek to be more honest as a writer, what theme do I hope will come out of The Dark Proposal’s sequel? I know I cannot force it, but I really hope redemption and healing would be one or both. Actually, I hope it will be the theme for the whole trilogy (yes, my book was meant to be the first of three). I also like the whole “be careful what you wish for” theme will come into play. I’m sure there’s always more than one theme in a story, or different ways to figure out the theme.

Or rather, what kind of redemption and healing do my characters need in order to fuel that theme?

Claire needs to heal and be redeemed from her mistakes and naivete. Daniel needs to be redeemed from being so evil. There is room for redemption and healing for Hilde, the Five Brothers and even The Black Roses. Even Samantha and Monica need to heal. There’s a lot of pain in The Dark Proposal, and everyone has a lot of coming to terms to do.

Which raises another question: what kind of writer do I intend to be? Sure, I want to be one that goes deep with questions and the human experience. But will be the regular theme in my stories? Will there always be a re-occurring one? Who knows? But since themes come from the heart of the writer, maybe the themes of my stories will be similar, just written differently. Or not. It also depends on the perspective of the reader.

The key here is to keep on writing, and get more to the heart of what I’m trying to say, or express. But I obviously cannot force myself to expose my heart in a story, just like a theme cannot be forced.

I’ll let Chuck Wendig finish off the meaning of theme:

A writer can engineer the theme — building it into the work. Or a writer can unearth it — discovering its tendrils after the work is written.

I’ll be the first to say that I am a Spreadsheet Queen. I can’t live without spreadsheets. Whether it is to keep track of finances, freelance work, or plans for the summer, spreadsheets is the way to go for me, and likely for many other people.

That probably also includes fellow authors outlining their next book. Some authors choose between outlining or flying by the seat of their pants when it comes to writing. I myself have debated this issue. But lately, due to my crazy schedule, I find it best to outline. And I’ve made that possible for myself through spreadsheets.

How do I outline using spreadsheets? Simple. I make each column represent each chapter. So when you see my sheet, you’ll see Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3… all lined up in columns. Next, I put the scenes of each chapter in the rows. This is a good way to figure out which scene should end or begin a chapter, or which scene belongs in which chapter.

Photo by Craig Chew-Moulding on Flickr via Creative Commons

Doing this has made the planning of my sequel very easy. Granted, I do not stick to it religiously; I have moved a few scenes around and added a few more without consulting my spreadsheet. But overall, spreadsheets has been helping me keep track of the scenes of my second book.

It is not unusual for authors to use this to help plot their books. JK Rowling plotted her Harry Potter books using spreadsheets, and I’ve seen a few other, less-known authors do the same thing.

Because life can be so busy sometimes, I recommend authors to outline their stories. It is too easy to come up with an idea, only to not be able to write it down because either you’re at work, going to or from work, or busy with home life. Also, writing is a discipline, and if you are working on a book, you need to be organized and professional about your craft and your story. I was not like this when I wrote my first book, but then again, I was unemployed at the time. That meant having plenty of time to write whenever I pleased, as much as I wanted.

Nowadays, I do not have that luxury and I have to rely on spreadsheets to make my next book possible. It is funny how being a professional these days has made me rely on a program intended for professionals, in order to be more professional with my story!

Earlier this month, I finally did something I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do.

I completed the third chapter of my sequel.

Holy crap. I did it!

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

I always felt the third chapter should be the springboard in a story. It certainly was with “The Dark Proposal”, and I wanted the same with its sequel. The first two chapters were like a gathering of information, an intro to what the book will be based on. The third chapter feels like it will build on all of that, and set off the rest of the book. But for a long time, every time I worked on the sequel, I just couldn’t get past the third chapter.

This was due to a lot of reasons. There were times where I wasn’t fully sure with what I wanted from my story and characters. It is tough to write a sequel because you have to improve on a lot of things from the first book. You have to delve deeper into the story, develop the main characters (and possibly other characters) more, and really improve on your storytelling skills. In other words, a sequel is a step up from the previous story in many ways.

Then came times when I wasn’t sure if I was really over the hurdle. Meaning, I would read over the third chapter again and again, revising and revising it, trying to make sure it was good enough. Was it as much of a springboard that it needed to be? Did it really prepare the reader for the rest of the book? Was the chapter strong enough for me to move on to the rest of the story?

Well, a couple of weeks ago, I felt that way. I felt my third chapter was satisfying enough for me to continue writing the story. The springboard had a bounce to it.

While it will obviously go through rewrites and revisions like the rest of the book, I felt it was good enough for me journey on. I had gotten past the hurdle.

I know its 17 days into the new year, but I haven’t been able to wish everyone a happy new year. So I’m taking that opportunity right now. I’ve been crazy busy this month so far with work and getting another job squared away, as well as taking steps to laying the foundations of what I hope – and expect – will be a productive year for me!

With that, I will now give some updates on where my life is now. I currently work as a part-time reporter for a local paper, and in a few weeks I will start teaching as an adjunct professor for English 101 classes at one of the public colleges here in New York. I am very thrilled by the developments in my professional life, and look forward to see them grow even more this year.

Along with those developments, I am eager to see my authorship restart and grow by leaps and bounds this year too. I recently completed book trailers for The Dark Proposal, and I am offering to do book trailers for other authors. I am excited by the prospects of helping other authors – particularly self-published authors – expand and meet their audiences in a variety of ways.

That being said, you’re probably wondering what is up with my long awaited sequel to my first book? Well, the good news is that I am still working on it. The bad news, my work stalled due to the holidays and my other commitments. But I’m finding ways to squeeze in time to write this second book, which is great because I really am excited by what the sequel has to offer. I’ve mentioned this in other posts, but I just want to reiterate that I am excited. I have to admit that I am nervous though, because I’m approaching the story of Claire and the vampires differently, even though the original story stays. I have grown so much as a person and as a writer that my approach is far from what it was a few years ago. It’s amazing how much I’ve developed since releasing The Dark Proposal over three years ago.

Anyway, I just want to say that I am still actively writing. My goal is to complete the first draft of this book by the end of summer. The sooner, the better, of course, and I know I might be compared to George R R Martin, author of the series that inspired the HBO show, Game of Thrones. But life comes first, that is the way it is.

But I will finish this story. I’m a passionate storyteller, and will always be. I can’t not tell a story, so the sequel to The Dark Proposal will be out someday. I haven’t forgotten any of you!

For me, as a spiritual person, it means to recover from past mistakes by undoing them through better deeds, better actions, better attitude, and everything better all around from what you did wrong – with what you did wrong fully in mind.

We all fall short, and we all make mistakes. And we all have to pay or fix those mistakes. But when it comes to redemption, to me at least, we redeem ourselves from major, life changing mistakes that take our life’s path in a totally different direction. A direction that we did not intend, yet were too blind by something to not realize that we were going to veer off course.

Image by Maria Morri via Flickr

I’ve been down that road, and there’s nothing quite like looking back and wondering why I took the road that took my life in a direction it should not have gone on.

The good news is, I’ve been getting back on track and fixing my life, and becoming someone who I was meant to be, rather than running away from my potential and talents. What I’ve learned is that there comes a point in life where you simply cannot doubt yourself anymore or else you’ll have more problems than you need. Plus, you never really grow. Since I value personal growth, I had to learn the hard way that insecurities are really limiting, and I had a choice to get over them or give them up if I wanted a better life.

So I made the choice to give them up, and now I’m setting on a more better path for myself. Too bad there are lots of consequences that I have to deal with, such as starting over again professionally, financial sacrifices and consequences. But I am more at peace with myself, and where my life is headed.

I hope for the same for my main character, Claire McCormick. Some of you may recall in the first book of my trilogy, she made a lot of mistakes that led her onto a path she couldn’t really get off of. Now she is stuck in a life she never wanted, but ended up on because of her flaws and naivete. Granted, she’s a young girl, just 22 years old and just out of college. Like many at that age, she thinks she can survive easily yet is wrought with insecurities. And she paid a heavy price for her actions.

The second book of my trilogy will focus on Claire’s redemption. She is not the same person she used to be. Aside from being a vampire, she’s been through a lot and is now more unsure of who she is and where to go in this life that she didn’t ask for. That uncertainty is ripe for either self-destruction or self-redemption. However Claire chooses her path determines not only her future, but the future of the vampires, which is growing increasingly insecure with modern technology.

Redemption can be fun. It can also be scary. It can be painful. It also can be relieving. Either way, I believe when one is committed to redemption, it is a journey filled with new beginning and painful endings, great reminders, and agonizing truths. But its a path no one can ever avoid, no matter how hard we try.